‘Dictator’ Aditya Chopra was ‘screaming and shouting’ to his father, wanted to fire Saroj Khan from DDLJ

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His brother Uday Chopra said that ‘nobody knew’ what was going on in Adi’s mind. “Saroj ji was telling him, ‘Adi, what are you doing? You’re messing this song up’. Even parts of the climax, dad wasn’t very excited about the way he wanted to treat that climax. Saroj ji, Man ji (cinematographer Manmohan Singh), dad, they were all the best in their fields, and they were telling him he’s doing something wrong, and he still didn’t listen to them. He would just listen to his gut. It’s Saroj ji’s greatness that she came to the house one day and said, ‘I was wrong, you were right’.”

Shah Rukh chimed in, and said, “We had some senior members on the technical staff. And they’re all good-thinking, lovely people. They meant well, for somebody’s first film. He would say, ‘No, I don’t want to do it because I don’t think it should be done like that’. I would say, ‘But why take a chance? It’s your first film, maybe these people know better than you and I’? He said, ‘No, then I would never know what mistakes I made. If I go wrong, it should be my wrong’. He was very clear that he wouldn’t do something he didn’t believe in.”

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Karan Johar, who worked as an assistant on the landmark film – this is where he asked Shah Rukh and Kajol to star in his debut feature as director, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai – said that Adi was like a ‘dictator’ on set. “He’s a dictator, he’s definitely not a director. It’s his way or the highway. His clarity is something that I want to emulate and am inspired by.”

Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge remains one of Hindi cinema’s most enduring hits. It established Aditya Chopra as a leading filmmaker, and cemented Shah Rukh as the number one leading man of his generation. Adi Chopra last directed the critical and commercial flop Befikre.